Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak gestures as he speaks to the media before the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem Feb. 3, 2008.

As early as Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed to continue operation in Gaza if only a security assessment thinks it is needed.

Barak said that the rocket production labs must be destroyed and Israel Air Force (IAF)'s strikes on Gaza must furthermore continue.

The Israeli army had been carrying out since Saturday a major ground operation into Gaza, where tanks and bulldozers backed by aircraft have also taken part in.

According to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, at least 48 Palestinians were killed during the operations since Saturday.

Before the escalation on Saturday, IDF started an offensive against Gaza on Wednesday when an Israeli civilian was killed by rocket fire. More than 100 Palestinians and two IDF soldiers have been killed since the start of the operation on Wednesday.

Palestinian sources said that among the Palestinian casualties, 12 were civilians including children and women. More than 60 Palestinians were also injured.